BRIDGETOWN - The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) on Monday issued a five-paragraph statement expressing its "great concern" over published media articles on recommendations contained in a coming report from a three-member committee headed by Justice Anthony Lucky of Trinidad and Tobago.

Without giving the specific nature of claimed "inaccuracies" nor what in particular the committee members would like to correct, the Board spoke for the committee without any of them offering a personal reaction.

The WICB's statement said: "Three members of the Sponsorship Negotiating Review Committee, Justice Lucky (chairman); Avondale Thomas and Gregory Georges, wish to state that the reports contain a number of inaccuracies and the information is wholly inconsistent with the findings of the members of the committee on the major issues..."

Some of the major recommendations, as reported in Monday's Observer, from the Lucky committee, call for the Board to renegotiate the contract by which Digicel replaced rival telecommunications company Cable and Wireless (C&W) as the new sponsor of West Indies cricket.

Further, that the WICB should be completely restructured to ensure wider representation, transparency and accountability.

The details of the committee's findings and recommendations were being finalised as of Monday, according to those familiar with the committee's work.

Arrangements have already been completed for the bulky report with a range of significant recommendations to be formally presented to new WICB president Ken Gordon on Friday in Port-of-Spain, possibly at the Crown Plaza Hotel.

A copy will also be made available to the immediate past WICB president Teddy Griffith of Barbados. He had initiated the creation of the three-member committee against the background of controversies over the circumstances surrounding the sudden and secretive replacement of C&W by Digicel as the new sponsor of West Indies cricket.

A source close to the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), which has an ongoing battle with the WICB over players' contracts, said Monday that there was "a moral obligation" for the Board to make available to the association a copy of the report from the sponsorship review committee.

In its press release, the WICB said the committee was established to "review all aspects of the negotiations that led to the conclusion of its sponsorship arrangements with Cable and Wireless and its acceptance of a sponsorship agreement with Digicel".

It further claimed that "the wild speculation which has been a feature of the reporting of the work of the committee, has in some cases been detrimental to the task of the committee" which, it added, "will submit its report in due course to the WICB" to which it is responsible.

'No comment', says Digicel

Irish tele-communications giants Digicel, sponsors of West Indies cricket, has declined to comment on the reported call for a re-negotiation of the contract with the West Indies Cricket Board - a recommendation of the Lucky Commission, which was asked to investigate reasons for the current row between the board and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA).

The re-negotiation of the contract is one of several recommendations that the commission, led by Trinidadian Judge Anthony Lucky has made, the Observer reported Monday.

Digicel executive Maureen Rabbit, who has responsibility for West Indies Cricket, said the company was not in possession of the report and she suggested that the Observer article which broke news of the commission's recommendations was speculative.

"I do not believe it is fair to comment on speculation. The article is based on sources and is not definitive. So Digicel would not wish to comment," Rabbit said Monday.
According to her, the report is not yet available to all the parties concerned.

"As far I as know the new president of the WICB does not yet have the report, so it really would be unwise to comment at this time," she stated.

The committee is said to have sharply criticised the way the sponsorship contract was handled.
Digicel replaced Cable and Wireless as sponsors of the premier regional game last year in an announced US$20 million over five years.

But the new sponsorship deal triggered a drawn-out, four-sided row between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the players' union, the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), Digicel and Cable & Wireless. The WICB and Digicel argued that private endorsement deals between C&W and some players infringed the rights of the new sponsor. Dispute has also raged over what portion of the sponsorship package should be paid to players.

Several top players, including former captain and master batsman Brian Lara missed the first Test between West Indies and South Africa in Guyana earlier this year and the situation got even worse more recently when all the region's top players, with the exception of captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul, were omitted from the West Indies tour of Sri Lanka.

Digicel came into Jamaica nearly five years ago and has broken the monopoly of Cable and Wireless, while continuing on an aggressive regional expansion campaign.

In a release on the weekend Digicel reiterated that its "total commitment to West Indies cricket is only partially reflected" in the five-year home and away contract of US$19.75 m with the WICB.

The release noted that the company has established a team incentives/player bonuses fund worth up to US$ 6.65 million and players "now have the opportunity to earn more bonuses and appearance fees (outside of team rights) than ever before ..."

It says an additional US$1.04m (based on US$208,000 allocated already in 2005) has been put in place for a Digicel awards fund which will cover Test and ODI match and series team awards, as well as all Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards for both Test and ODI matches, including trophies and medals.

EMC celebrates another successful year

Getting it right on Royal Palm Estate

International Reggae Day celebrates 40 years of the genre